What Is The Role Of Youth Culture In The 1950's

As the year 1950 approached, a new chapter in society and music was about to commence. Television shows including Father Knows Best and Leave it to Beaver exemplified the conservative values presented by the 1950s. During this decade, the civil rights movement began, Playboy magazine was founded, and rock and roll was born. After World War II, the American economy drastically increased. Families began looking for new houses and consumer goods including televisions, appliances and automobiles. Many new houses were built in suburbs. As homes in the suburbs became increasingly popular, many Americans became reliant on their cars for transportation. Newly constructed highways made commutes fast and easy. Since Americans began to spend more time

This new culture included new music tastes, modern fashion trends, slang, and movies dealing with teen themes. As the new “teenager” arose, rock and roll music began to grow. Teens were initially exposed to rhythm and blues by the local and regional radio programs. In the mid-1950s, various films helped to establish the image of restless and rebellious youth that soon would become associated with rock and roll. Some actors who portrayed these teenage rebels included Marlon Brando, James Dean, and Vic Morrow. In the film, Blackboard Jungle, the song ‘Rock Around the Clock” was featured and teenage viewers became wild and rowdy when they heard this song. Parents to these teenagers developed a growing concern for this new style of music as well as their children’s

Fats Domino had multiple hits on the R&B charts prior to crossing over to the pop charts. His easygoing style is portrayed by rolling triplets on the piano and a smooth vocal delivery. Chuck Berry chose to write and perform songs that didn’t need to be changed for white radio. His attention to lyrics provided an outline for many songwriters who followed. Little Richard was considered a showy figure in rock’s early years. He had a series of crossover hots before entering the ministry. Elvis Presley signed with RCA, a major record label. This action triggered rock and roll’s movement into mainstream pop. The decade ended with the payola scandal. The Payola Scandal was a means by which the major record labels attempted to gain their power and subsequently their profits and market share back from the indies, thus attempting an all-out assault in eliminating the threat. The US government held hearings on payola in the radio business were the undoing of many in radio, including Alan Freed. However, Dick Clark emerged from the investigation relatively safe and became one of the most popular and powerful figures in pop-music